Good advice

Ocracoke is a magical place, where the pace of life is (or at least seems) slower, the traffic is sparse, and many people bike or walk, rather than always driving. While all this is true, it is also true that the roads on Ocracoke are still places where the rules of the road (and common sense!) should be applied. Perhaps it is even more true on Ocracoke, with often narrow, windy streets shared, especially this time of year, by many pedestrians and bicyclists, in addition to cars, large SUVs with fishing poles on the front, and trucks towing boats.

So here's a quick reminder of rules which are for everyone's safety:
- bike on the right (same direction as vehicle traffic - a bike is a vehicle, albeit a slow one!)
- walk on the left (facing oncoming traffic)

Seems simple, I know. But truly, following these rules can save your life. We have been extraordinarily blessed on Ocracoke in that there aren't many bike/car or pedestrian/car accidents, but it is never a bad idea to be careful.

Stay safe out there!

Birthday party

I went to a potluck tonight, to celebrate the birthdays of several friends, all of whom have birthdays in July. It was a great celebration, with some fantastic food (Dave's bruschetta with homemade crostinis and Sundae's fig cake were the big hits), enjoyable chats, and (of course) birthday singing and cake. Someone lit the candles on the cake a bit early, and they burned themselves out before everyone had gotten organized enough to all be in the same room and sing. So, some more were found, and we all sang again. (Sundae teased that she wanted to hear some better singing the second time around, with harmonies and more feeling. When we finished singing, she did tell us that we had improved from our first try!)

I like this tradition of celebrating all the birthdays in a given month at the same time. I am planning to host the August birthday potluck, since my birthday is that month. Food with friends is always an excellent way to celebrate, well, anything.

No naps

Naps are not a realistic option for me on weekdays, but weekends are a bit slower paced with more free time which I could use to snooze. I am tired by the weekends, too, as a result of my full and hectic weekdays. So you would think I would make it a point to nap on Saturday or Sunday. This weekend was a perfect one for napping; it was overcast and a bit cool both days, so I could stay indoors or on the screened porch without feeling like I was wasting good outdoor time ("burnin' daylight", as I once heard it described).

But did I take any naps this weekend? You guessed it...no, I didn't. The reason wasn't so much about my "too busy" island life, as much as it was related to life being too interesting to nap through. Instead of napping this weekend, I read most of a good book (didn't quite finish it, but read a great deal). I had several good conversations, learned a few new and interesting things (including a few facts about the Argentinian traditional social practice of drinking a tea called mate), and enjoyed listening to some excellent live music.

All of this reminds me of the lyrics of a song by Ann Haley (from Oriental NC):

It's a beautiful life
Good cup of coffee, and some lively conversation
It's a beautiful life
Watching stars come out, over God's green plantation

I watched a few stars come out this weekend too. It is a beautiful life, and an interesting one...too interesting sometimes to stop and take naps. I think I'll go to bed a bit early instead!

Celebrations

On Friday night, I went to a birthday party on a sailboat. It was Sundae's 40th birthday, and we celebrated with her during a sunset sail on the Schooner Windfall. It was cloudy so there wasn't much of a sunset to speak of, and we actually got rained on for the first few minutes, but we still had a great time. The rain eventually cleared out (as the radar on Dave's phone said it would), and we munched contentedly on Deanna's fabulous sundried tomato and onion dip, bruschetta, and strawberries with honey vanilla dip as we sailed in Pamlico Sound. After the Lighthouse came on, we headed in to the dock and enjoyed delicious birthday cake and ice cream. It was a beautiful night by that time (the wind which came with the rain had blown the heat and humidity away), and several of us sat on the Windfall at the dock, chatting quietly and enjoying the peace of early evening and listening to the water of Silver Lake softly lapping against the sides of the boat.

Tonight, I went to a wedding on the beach. Fiddler Dave and Gary played wonderfully, the radiant bride carried sunflowers, and the sun set behind the dunes as Sean and Stephanie shared their vows. The minister told the story of Moses seeing the burning bush (it was definitely the first time I had heard that particular scripture at a wedding), and spoke of how Ocracoke had been selected as the number 1 beach in America for 2007. He connected the two with the concept of "holy ground", saying that, as Moses was standing on holy ground when he saw the burning bush, the couple was standing on holy ground as they were married in the sight and presence of God.

Both celebrations reminded me of how blessed I am to live here, surrounded by this lovely, holy, number one beach ground and the waters of the ocean, sound and harbor.

Island life

If you're wondering what it's really like to live on Ocracoke, here are a few anecdotes which will give you an idea of how life is here (at least this time of year).

Jamie and I went to dinner tonight. While chatting about life in general and what we had been up to, she said "I went to the beach today. Did you know there's a great beach outside the village?" I said "Wow, is it still there? I haven't been in so long I wasn't sure." Yes, of course I know our wonderful beach is still there, I just haven't seen it with my own eyes in a few days. I'm too busy. (In case you're worried, no I haven't missed any days on my salt water touching...luckily there are plenty of places within the village to touch salt water too!)

Earlier today, I got an email which mentioned the recent explosion in Manhattan. I had no clue that there had been an explosion in NYC. I haven't turned on a TV in days. I'm too busy.

Our friend Amy served Jamie and me at dinner tonight. We talked briefly about the fact that, several Sundays ago, Amy and I had a conversation to this effect:
"are Sunday nights usually a free time for you?"
"yes, sometimes"
"we should get together and go out for a drink some Sunday soon"
"definitely, that would be fun, let's do it"
As I said, that was several Sundays ago. We haven't done it (yet, I'm sure we will eventually). We're both too busy.

Amy went on to talk about the fact that she and her husband Dave took a walk on a recent evening. She commented to him that she really enjoyed walking in the evenings and they should do so more often. Then they started thinking about that, and realized the next time they would have an opportunity would be at least a week of evenings later. In the meantime, they're too busy.

So that's what island life is like for the locals during the summer: too busy. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. It is well worth the hard work this time of year, for the blessing of getting to live here year 'round. I love the summer, especially the long days of many sunlit hours. But I also definitely look forward to the quieter pace of "off season", when I'll get to go to the beach, keep up with the news, have a drink with friends, and go for walks more often.

Hope you are enjoying your summer, no matter how busy you are!

Cranio-what?

I just finished writing an article on craniosacral therapy. If you're wondering what the heck THAT is, you are not alone. I didn't have a clue what it was either, until just recently. I did some research, one interview, and experienced a treatment myself to find out about it. (It's definitely nice to be assigned to write about pampering, relaxing sorts of things!)

Anyway, to end the suspense, craniosacral therapy is a gentle, light touch bodywork modality which is performed on a clothed patient. So if you want the affects of a massage, but aren't a big fan of deep pressure or getting, as we say in the South, "nekkid", this is the therapy for you! I found the treatment to be VERY relaxing and would recommend it for anyone.

If you want to know more about it, you'll just have to read my article. You do know that you can subscribe to the Ocracoke Observer, and get a monthly newspaper fix of your favorite island, don't you? If that's news to you (pun absolutely and mercilessly intended), pick up an Observer next time you are on the island so you can fill out the subscription form (after you read my fascinating article, of course!) If you won't be there for a while and can't wait, I suspect Linda and Jamie will take your subscription request even if it's not on an official form. They just need your name, mailing address, phone number, and a check or money order for $24 (no, they can't bill you, you've gotta send the money now) for a full year subscription (9 issues). Send all of the above to Ocracoke Observer, PO Box 427, Ocracoke NC 27960. And happy reading!

Bingo!

I volunteered at Bingo tonight, helping to give out door prize tickets and sell "specials" (the extra game cards available in addition to the regular 12 games). I enjoy people watching, and Bingo is a great opportunity to do it. There are the serious Bingo players, who come armed with their daubers and desire near total silence while the calling is happening. Many of these are locals, who play every week. Then there are the visitors, who either use the crayons provided or purchase a dauber after they arrive, and whose chatter drives the serious Bingo people crazy. But the two groups manage to basically get along, and everyone seems to have a good time.

Tonight, Emmet won the final special game (a total blackout), but he narrowly missed getting the $500 jackpot, winning $50 instead. Why? Well, to win the jackpot, you must "bingo" within a certain number of calls. Tonight, the bingo had to be completed by the 59th number called, and Emmet got his on the 60th. He still seemed happy about it though. The requirement increments by one when the jackpot is not won, so next week, it will have to be won by bingoing within 60 numbers called. I'm told that the bingo typically happens between 60 and 64 numbers having been called, so next week (and possibly the following week, if it doesn't happen next week) would be a good time to play!